About This Career

Searches real estate records, examines titles, or summarizes pertinent legal or insurance documents or details for a variety of purposes. May compile lists of mortgages, contracts, and other instruments pertaining to titles by searching public and private records for law firms, real estate agencies, or title insurance companies.

This career is part of the Law, Public Safety, Corrections and Security cluster Legal Services pathway.

A person in this career:

• Examines documentation such as mortgages, liens, judgments, easements, plat books, maps, contracts, and agreements to verify factors such as properties' legal descriptions, ownership, or restrictions.
• Examines individual titles to determine if restrictions, such as delinquent taxes, will affect titles and limit property use.
• Prepares reports describing any title encumbrances encountered during searching activities and outlining actions needed to clear titles.
• Copies or summarizes recorded documents, such as mortgages, trust deeds, and contracts, that affect property titles.
• Verifies accuracy and completeness of land-related documents accepted for registration, preparing rejection notices when documents are not acceptable.
• Prepares lists of all legal instruments applying to a specific piece of land and the buildings on it.
• Reads search requests to ascertain types of title evidence required and to obtain descriptions of properties and names of involved parties.
• Obtains maps or drawings delineating properties from company title plants, county surveyors, or assessors' offices.
• Confers with realtors, lending institution personnel, buyers, sellers, contractors, surveyors, and courthouse personnel to exchange title-related information or to resolve problems.
• Enters into record-keeping systems appropriate data needed to create new title records or to update existing ones.

Working Conditions and Physical Demands

People who do this job report that:

• You would sit most of the time. There's some walking and standing. You may have to lift and carry things like books, papers or tools weighing 10 lbs. or less.
• Work in this occupation requires being inside most of the time
• Work in this occupation involves sitting more than one-third of the time

Working in this career involves (physical activities):

• Seeing clearly up close
• Speaking clearly enough to be able to be understood by others
• Identifying and understanding the speech of another person

Work Hours and Travel

• Regular working hours and limited travel